#author

[hayatheauthor]

The Anatomy of Passing Out: When, Why, and How to Write It

Passing out, or syncope, is a loss of consciousness that can play a pivotal role in storytelling, adding drama, suspense, or emotional weight to a scene. Whether it’s due to injury, fear, or exhaustion, the act of fainting can instantly shift the stakes in your story.

But how do you write it convincingly? How do you ensure it’s not overly dramatic or medically inaccurate? In this guide, I’ll walk you through the causes, stages, and aftermath of passing out. By the end, you’ll be able to craft a vivid, realistic fainting scene that enhances your narrative without feeling clichéd or contrived.

2. Common Causes of Passing Out

Characters faint for a variety of reasons, and understanding the common causes can help you decide when and why your character might lose consciousness. Below are the major categories that can lead to fainting, each with their own narrative implications.

Physical Causes

Blood Loss: A sudden drop in blood volume from a wound can cause fainting as the body struggles to maintain circulation and oxygen delivery to the brain.

Dehydration: When the body doesn’t have enough fluids, blood pressure can plummet, leading to dizziness and fainting.

Low Blood Pressure (Hypotension): Characters with chronic low blood pressure may faint after standing up too quickly, due to insufficient blood reaching the brain.

Intense Pain: The body can shut down in response to severe pain, leading to fainting as a protective mechanism.

Heatstroke: Extreme heat can cause the body to overheat, resulting in dehydration and loss of consciousness.

Psychological Causes

Emotional Trauma or Shock: Intense fear, grief, or surprise can trigger a fainting episode, as the brain becomes overwhelmed.

Panic Attacks: The hyperventilation and increased heart rate associated with anxiety attacks can deprive the brain of oxygen, causing a character to faint.

Fear-Induced Fainting (Vasovagal Syncope): This occurs when a character is so afraid that their body’s fight-or-flight response leads to fainting.

Environmental Causes

Lack of Oxygen: Situations like suffocation, high altitudes, or enclosed spaces with poor ventilation can deprive the brain of oxygen and cause fainting.

Poisoning or Toxins: Certain chemicals or gasses (e.g., carbon monoxide) can interfere with the body’s ability to transport oxygen, leading to unconsciousness.

3. The Stages of Passing Out

To write a realistic fainting scene, it’s important to understand the stages of syncope. Fainting is usually a process, and characters will likely experience several key warning signs before they fully lose consciousness.

Pre-Syncope (The Warning Signs)

Before losing consciousness, a character will typically go through a pre-syncope phase. This period can last anywhere from a few seconds to a couple of minutes, and it’s full of physical indicators that something is wrong.

Light-Headedness and Dizziness: A feeling that the world is spinning, which can be exacerbated by movement.

Blurred or Tunnel Vision: The character may notice their vision narrowing or going dark at the edges.

Ringing in the Ears: Often accompanied by a feeling of pressure or muffled hearing.

Weakness in Limbs: The character may feel unsteady, like their legs can’t support them.

Sweating and Nausea: A sudden onset of cold sweats, clamminess, and nausea is common.

Rapid Heartbeat (Tachycardia): The heart races as it tries to maintain blood flow to the brain.

Syncope (The Loss of Consciousness)

When the character faints, the actual loss of consciousness happens quickly, often within seconds of the pre-syncope signs.

The Body Going Limp: The character will crumple to the ground, usually without the ability to break their fall.

Breathing: Breathing continues, but it may be shallow and rapid.

Pulse: While fainting, the heart rate can either slow down dramatically or remain rapid, depending on the cause.

Duration: Most fainting episodes last from a few seconds to a minute or two. Prolonged unconsciousness may indicate a more serious issue.

Post-Syncope (The Recovery)

After a character regains consciousness, they’ll typically feel groggy and disoriented. This phase can last several minutes.

Disorientation: The character may not immediately remember where they are or what happened.

Lingering Dizziness: Standing up too quickly after fainting can trigger another fainting spell.

Nausea and Headache: After waking up, the character might feel sick or develop a headache.

Weakness: Even after regaining consciousness, the body might feel weak or shaky for several hours.

4. The Physical Effects of Fainting

Fainting isn’t just about losing consciousness—there are physical consequences too. Depending on the circumstances, your character may suffer additional injuries from falling, especially if they hit something on the way down.

Impact on the Body

Falling Injuries: When someone faints, they usually drop straight to the ground, often hitting their head or body in the process. Characters may suffer cuts, bruises, or even broken bones.

Head Injuries: Falling and hitting their head on the floor or a nearby object can lead to concussions or more severe trauma.

Scrapes and Bruises: If your character faints on a rough surface or near furniture, they may sustain scrapes, bruises, or other minor injuries.

Physical Vulnerability

Uncontrolled Fall: The character’s body crumples or falls in a heap. Without the ability to brace themselves, they are at risk for further injuries.

Exposed While Unconscious: While fainted, the character is vulnerable to their surroundings. This could lead to danger in the form of attackers, environmental hazards, or secondary injuries from their immediate environment.

Signs to Look For While Unconscious

Shallow Breathing: The character's breathing will typically become shallow or irregular while they’re unconscious.

Pale or Flushed Skin: Depending on the cause of fainting, a character’s skin may become very pale or flushed.

Twitching or Muscle Spasms: In some cases, fainting can be accompanied by brief muscle spasms or jerking movements.

5. Writing Different Types of Fainting

There are different types of fainting, and each can serve a distinct narrative purpose. The way a character faints can help enhance the scene's tension or emotion.

Sudden Collapse

In this case, the character blacks out without any warning. This type of fainting is often caused by sudden physical trauma or exhaustion.

No Warning: The character simply drops, startling both themselves and those around them.

Used in High-Tension Scenes: For example, a character fighting in a battle may suddenly collapse from blood loss, raising the stakes instantly.

Slow and Gradual Fainting

This happens when a character feels themselves fading, usually due to emotional stress or exhaustion.

Internal Monologue: The character might have time to realize something is wrong and reflect on what’s happening before they lose consciousness.

Adds Suspense: The reader is aware that the character is fading but may not know when they’ll drop.

Dramatic Fainting

Some stories call for a more theatrical faint, especially in genres like historical fiction or period dramas.

Exaggerated Swooning: A character might faint from shock or fear, clutching their chest or forehead before collapsing.

Evokes a Specific Tone: This type of fainting works well for dramatic, soap-opera-like scenes where the fainting is part of the tension.

6. Aftermath: How Characters Feel After Waking Up

When your character wakes up from fainting, they’re not going to bounce back immediately. There are often lingering effects that last for minutes—or even hours.

Physical Recovery

Dizziness and Nausea: Characters might feel off-balance or sick to their stomach when they first come around.

Headaches: A headache is a common symptom post-fainting, especially if the character hits their head.

Body Aches: Muscle weakness or stiffness may persist, especially if the character fainted for a long period or in an awkward position.

Emotional and Mental Impact

Confusion: The character may not remember why they fainted or what happened leading up to the event.

Embarrassment: Depending on the situation, fainting can be humiliating, especially if it happened in front of others.

Fear: Characters who faint from emotional shock might be afraid of fainting again or of the situation that caused it.

7. Writing Tips: Making It Believable

Writing a fainting scene can be tricky. If not handled properly, it can come across as melodramatic or unrealistic. Here are some key tips to ensure your fainting scenes are both believable and impactful.

Understand the Cause

First and foremost, ensure that the cause of fainting makes sense in the context of your story. Characters shouldn’t pass out randomly—there should always be a logical reason for it.

Foreshadow the Fainting: If your character is losing blood, suffering from dehydration, or undergoing extreme emotional stress, give subtle clues that they might pass out. Show their discomfort building before they collapse.

Avoid Overuse: Fainting should be reserved for moments of high stakes or significant plot shifts. Using it too often diminishes its impact.

Balance Realism with Drama

While you want your fainting scene to be dramatic, don’t overdo it. Excessively long or theatrical collapses can feel unrealistic.

Keep It Short: Fainting typically happens fast. Avoid dragging the loss of consciousness out for too long, as it can slow down the pacing of your story.

Don’t Always Save the Character in Time: In some cases, let the character hit the ground. This adds realism, especially if they’re fainting due to an injury or traumatic event.

Consider the Aftermath

Make sure to give attention to what happens after the character faints. This part is often overlooked, but it’s important for maintaining realism and continuity.

Lingering Effects: Mention the character’s disorientation, dizziness, or confusion upon waking up. It’s rare for someone to bounce back immediately after fainting.

Reactions of Others: If other characters are present, how do they react? Are they alarmed? Do they rush to help, or are they unsure how to respond?

Avoid Overly Romanticized Fainting

In some genres, fainting is used as a dramatic or romantic plot device, but this can feel outdated and unrealistic. Try to focus on the genuine physical or emotional toll fainting takes on a character.

Stay Away from Clichés: Avoid having your character faint simply to be saved by a love interest. If there’s a romantic element, make sure it’s woven naturally into the plot rather than feeling forced.

8. Common Misconceptions About Fainting

Fainting is often misrepresented in fiction, with exaggerated symptoms or unrealistic recoveries. Here are some common myths about fainting, and the truth behind them.

Myth 1: Fainting Always Comes Without Warning

While some fainting episodes are sudden, most people experience warning signs (lightheadedness, blurred vision) before passing out. This gives the character a chance to notice something is wrong before losing consciousness.

Myth 2: Fainting Is Dramatic and Slow

In reality, fainting happens quickly—usually within a few seconds of the first warning signs. Characters won’t have time for long speeches or dramatic gestures before collapsing.

Myth 3: Characters Instantly Bounce Back

Many stories show characters waking up and being perfectly fine after fainting, but this is rarely the case. Fainting usually leaves people disoriented, weak, or even nauseous for several minutes afterward.

Myth 4: Fainting Is Harmless

In some cases, fainting can indicate a serious medical issue, like heart problems or severe dehydration. If your character is fainting frequently, it should be addressed in the story as a sign of something more severe.

Looking For More Writing Tips And Tricks? 

Are you an author looking for writing tips and tricks to better your manuscript? Or do you want to learn about how to get a literary agent, get published and properly market your book? Consider checking out the rest of Quillology with Haya Sameer; a blog dedicated to writing and publishing tips for authors! While you’re at it, don’t forget to head over to my TikTok and Instagram profiles @hayatheauthor to learn more about my WIP and writing journey! 

[rs-hawk]

can we have some more centaur content pleaseeee

The integration of monsters into human society was not well received by many humans, but you were ecstatic. You wanted so badly to be able to flirt with a hot centaur or a muscular minotaur, and it would be easier than ever now that a centaur herd had moved into the large house next door. You knew that with an acre of land it was likely that a monster would move in, and you were not disappointed when you saw all of those hunky centaurs moving in.

One in particular caught your eye, a black stallion with the upper body of an olive skinned man. His black hair was a curly mop on the top of his head, with eyes nearly as dark and untamed. Your mouth watered as you noticed the large cock hanging between his back legs. So the rumors were true. Centaurs didn't usually wear clothes. You knew that you were really going to love having them live next to you.

You did your best to not stare every time he walked by, but it was hard for you. That huge cock hanging between his legs, and when he started trotting over to the fence that separates your homes, you have to force yourself to look up at his face while the two of you speak.

"Do you like the neighborhood?" he asked after introducing himself.

"I do. How have you liked it so far?" you smiled softly, leaning on the fence as you spoke to him.

"There are a lot of things about it that I like," he said, his eyes trailing down your body. You flushed under his gaze. "Especially when it comes to the neighbors."

"That's interesting," you muttered, smiling as you looked up at him through your lashes, your face darkening still.

Before the night came, you were in his room of the barn, his thick fingers stretching your already dripping hole. You were whimpering, pushing yourself back onto his fingers, desperate to feel more of him. The rest of the barn was empty, for now, meaning that the only sounds that were resonating through the building were the breathing of both of you, and the wetness his fingers stirred inside of you.

"There we go. You're stretching so well for me," he whispered, adding another finger to your slicked cunt.

The only response you could muster up was a soft babbling for more, which after only a few moments, he conceded to. He withdrew his fingers, earning a groan from you. However, he mounted you, his huge, flared cock slowly pushing into you. A moan ripped out of your throat as you felt fuller than you ever had before.

At a slow-moving pace, he pushed in and out of you, stretching your cunt with each and every thrust that pressed the tip of his cock against your cervix. In moments, he was flooding you with cum, his low grunts making you clench around his throbbing cock.

Before you could speak, he began moving slowly in and out of you again. "We have the entire barn to ourselves tonight, and I intend on making the most of it," he said in a sultry voice, making you clench again around him. Thank God for the monster integration program.

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[sparkles-and-trash]

Me posting my shitty fics on here when I’m mutuals with some of the most amazing writers I’ve ever met

[nottheospoetry]

i have to force myself to turn away knowing something ugly was bubbling up inside me and if i didn’t swallow hard enough the words would spew out and hurt you

[thepersonalquotes]

If I had time, money and knowledge I could write about everything; but no problem, Google is already doing it

Bangambiki Habyarimana, Pearls Of Eternity

[lannegarrett]

Them: you need to write the book if you want others to read it.

Me:

[yourverybestghoulfriend]

Wishing a very Happy Birthday to Stephen King today!

(September 21, 1947)

[lenainwonderland]

- Franz Kafka

[dizzzydancin]

Will We Ever Learn? We've Been Here Before- Poolverine

haiii new poolverine oneshot just dropped :3 there's a severe lack of origins poolverine it makes me SICK. so if there's no content might as well make it yourself!

“As I was saying,” Wade begins as he settles down, “I think we’re soulmates in every universe.” Soulmates. Logan despises the word. How could two people be created so right for one another and fate has it that they bump into each other on a whim? Logan didn't realize how true the statement, "soulmates in every universe" could be.

enjoy! :p

[reallybadblackoutpoems]

imagination (1963) - harold ordway rugg

"chekhovs cat / schrödingers razor / occams gun"

[rs-hawk]

Beauty and the Beast but the Beast doesn't return to full human when the curse is broken, because it was almost too late to break it when it happens

So instead of seemlessly regaining the throne and getting married with Beauty, the people of the town are still uneasy, even though they remember him now, and don't understand why Beauty stays by his side when they're free to return to the village

Likewise some of the humans-turned-objects-turned-humans still have characteristics of their former objects, like the candlestick's hair will sometimes catch fire when they're upset (harmless to them but still scary), or the alarm clock will get ringing migraines in a more literal way

I just think it could be a really neat story, fluff or smut or whathaveyou

I know that this is an o bylder ask but I have been thinking about it for awhile. I might do another part if y'all like it but I had a hard time narrowing it down to which characters to focus on.

Belle was surprised when Beast, Adam?, didn't return to fully human. Though to say that she was displeased wouldn't be true either. Her smile was always warm and genuine when she looked at him. He would smile back at her with his teeth that were a little too long, set on a face that almost, if you squinted, still looked like he was a beast. His horns had nearly disappeared, but when Belle would run her fingers through his thick, luscious hair, she could still feel just a prick of them.

Of course the town people remembered him, though they struggled with the fact that they too had been cursed. How could they have possibly been cursed for so long and no one had been the wiser? Belle tried to get more people to come to the palace to meet him, to participate in his welcome back ball, but very few came back.

"Maybe you should go home," one day Adam sighed, putting his head in her lap.

"I am home," Belle insisted, once again running her fingers through his hair.

"You know that's not what I meant. The townspeople... they are afraid of me. Your father still is cross with me, and how could I blame him? I kidnapped him and then you. I'm sorry," he muttered, nuzzling her leg and grabbing her thighs with his paw like hands, his long nails lightly scrapping her delicate skin there.

"Wherever you are is home to me," she purred, kissing the top of his head.

In the next room, Cogsworth was getting annoyed with Lumiere for once again flirting with the maids. It always caused such a mess. The large man grabbed Lumiere by the tie, tugging him closer to him.

"If you don't stop with this nonsense at once, I'm going to have to insist to the Master that you have a leave of absence, and where would you go if not here?" Cogsworth hisses, his mustache twitching as if they were hands on a clock ticking.

"Oh Cogsworth, my dear friend, are you jealous, mm? Do you miss us being, how would you say, stored together?" Lumiere smirked, looking up at the little man with a twinkle in his eyes.

Cogsworth blushed, letting go of the former candle. "I have no idea what you're talking about!"

"Mm, don't be so quick to sweep, my dear friend. We could be stored together tonight if you like," he continued to smirk, the start of a flame sparking off the tip of a lock of hair, dying as the ember wafered between them.

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[risafeywritesdrarry]

[oatmilk-vampire]

Always the writer, never the reader.

[tomcruisingthroughlife]

[authorisedgardian]

The stuggles of being a writer.

A shame that I have to actually finish my book before I get to read it. I enjoy writing it just as much but I am looking forward to finishing my first book and getting to read through it, even if I do know what's going to happen.

[lannegarrett]

I know adverbs are controversial, but "said softly" means something different than "whispered" and this is the hill I will die on.